The Vocation of Saint Aloysius (Luigi) Gonzaga

The Vocation of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga depicts the moment the young Gonzaga prince renounced his inheritance to enter the Society of Jesus — an act of aristocratic self-denial that the Jesuits promoted as their order's supreme example of holy poverty. Guercino painted this in 1650, when he was the dominant painter in Bologna and the Jesuits were among his most reliable patrons. The subject allowed Guercino to stage the dramatic confrontation between worldly wealth and spiritual calling that defined Counter-Reformation narrative painting.

Classical composition balances the earthly realm of aristocratic wealth against the heavenly vision calling the young saint to religious life. Guercino's mature palette of warm earth tones with strategic passages of brighter color guides the eye through the narrative.